Horse Chestnut

What a difference a week makes....

These were taken exactly a week apart over the last 3 Sundays...

You can see the flower spikes forming...
it won't be long before they are out!

Dark Moon, Dark Oak

I’ve been particularly aware of the dark moon lately- that time when the moon disappears from view between the last crescent of the waning moon & the first sliver of the new. It may be officially new moon before we see it, but I feel more comfortable terming those few days as dark moon.

This last one, just after the equinox was particularly powerful- I was driven to seek out an oak tree that stands alone not far away. The wind was wild & it felt as though it was hurrying me along- as I looked towards the oak, the constellation of Orion was stationed directly above it pointing the way in the darkness.

Dark oak calls,
Silent sentry waiting.
Dark moon calls,
Silver beauty hidden.
Impatient wind tugs
Together we are bidden.

Trying to get some shelter from the wind I leaned back against the trunk & shared in the energy that was zinging around. There was power there, silent dark strength… a pulsing from the earth like a song rising through the oak… messages transmitting between the earth, oak, wind & moon.

Dark oak sings
Connecting earth and sky.
Dark moon sings
And earth joins in her cry.
Silent stars observe
This holiest communion.

There was definite communication going on, an energetic transfer. I was aware of the circle of life… a giving & receiving… a circle of love… & then calm.

Feel the pulse of energy
Of love & death & birth.
Share in this dark energy
Seeds of wisdom sowing
Nurtured in her darkness
Re-newing… Re-growing.
In-drawn breath,
A ‘knowing’
Leaning here beneath the tree,
dark moon, dark oak & me.

I have spread my dreams under your feet...

...tread softly because you tread on my dreams. You might have to click on the pic to see the lettering.

This is a quote is from a poem by William Butler Yeats, which I have written out many times in many ways & I never tire of it.

'He Wishes For The Cloths of Heaven'

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Although I did this piece a while ago Celtic Lady reminded me about it when she posted the poem in her blog... what an interesting & informative site that is!

Many waters...

...cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it
(Song of Solomon).
Two very different canvasses using the same quotation.

In this blue one the inspiration for the background is 'water'... quite a plain background with paint rolled on & quite a simple watery splash across the bottom. It is the word 'love' that is the focal point, written with a folded ruling pen to provide contrast to the rest of the lettering done with a Mitchell nib which blends with the background. 'Love' is written in an energetic style which echoes the energy of the water. Although there are contrasts going on, the overall effect is harmonious. This piece of work is currently available for sale on Spirit Trader in my shop 'inspirations'



In this canvas, it is the heart that is the focal point & the lettering done with a draughtsman's ruling pen is subsidiary. I used deeper tones of pink so it wasn't too 'girly' & I was really pleased the way the heart turned out, capturing that feel of the energy of water. (At least I thought so, lol)

They're both small canvasses & it can be difficult to control paint splashing in a small area, especially when you're trying to exude the energy of the subject as you splash. Needless to say, I managed to cover a much larger area than 8" x 12", including myself!

What is this life if full of care...

...we have no time to stand & stare? by W H Davies.

I was browsing through mr mogs basket and he had posted this poem at Imbolc- I only photographed this canvas last week. It's 12"x16" with shades of brown & copper background, the lettering is a metallic copper written with a ruling pen. The phrase "what is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand & stare?" is layered under the text in a darker copper & bits of copper leaf add to the effect. The metallic paint means the look of this canvas changes depending on the light & angle... you do have to take time to stand & stare to see all the detail!
It's a pertinent question in this day & age, when the pace of life for so many is so fast. I'm lucky enough to be out of the hustle & can sit & stare on a regular basis. But even in the city nature is there... a blade of grass pushing through tarmac, a spider hiding in the bricks of a wall, the sky above etc etc. All we have to do is pause a moment & look... it's there if we choose to see.

It doesn't matter where we are, I think everyone should take some time just to stand & stare... to breathe deeply & notice.... to re-charge & feel connected.

Copper Sun

The most amazing copper coloured sun earlier.... I just had to get a photo....

...or two.... or 3... the twigs in the fore ground were deliberate...

...but then I noticed how fast the sun was sinking in the time I took few shots......spectacular, shame my photography doesn't do it justice.

Aeons ago before time had begun
Love existed 'neath a copper sun.
Creation's explosion set time in motion
Aeons ago 'neath a copper sun.

(Just a little something of mine that sprang to mind)

About Hilda Conkling

After writing the previous post I dug around a bit furthur:
Hilda Conkling lived 1919-1986 in Massachusetts, USA & all her published poetry was created between the age of 4 or 5 to10. As she got older, her mother stopped writing them down, apparently she stopped making poems when she hit her teens & is not known to have written poetry later in life.

Mmm, that makes me wonder.... did she really not write any, or just not tell people about it? did she feel she could not match her earlier work? or what?
She spoke the poems, fully formed, word perfect & remembered them exactly... were they 'channelled'? as a child, was she in touch with her 'higher- self' or 'spirit guides' that spoke directly through her sub-conscious?

Did they come from her or did her mother, also a poet actually write them?- it seems not
fullbooks.com/Poems-By-a-Little-Girl
has an interesting preface by Amy Lowell written when Hilda was 9- here are some extracts:

"Hilda tells her poems, and the method of it is
this: They come out in the course of conversation,
and Mrs. Conkling is so often engaged in
writing that there is nothing to be remarked if she
scribbles absently while talking to the little girls.
But this scribbling is really a complete draught of
the poem. Occasionally Mrs. Conkling writes
down the poem later from memory and reads it
afterwards to the child, who always remembers
if it is not exactly in its original form. No line,
no cadence, is altered from Hilda's version; the
titles have been added for convenience, but they
are merely obvious handles derived from the
text....

...Now to turn to the book itself; at the very start,
here is an amazing thing. This slim volume contains
one hundred and seven separate poems, and
that is counting as one all the very short pieces
written between the ages of five and six. Certainly
that is a remarkable output for a little girl,
and the only possible explanation is that the poems
are perfectly instinctive. There is no working
over as with an adult poet. Hilda is subconscious,
not self-conscious. Her mother says that she
rarely hesitates for a word...

...The child who writes them frequently transcends
herself, but her thoughts for the most part are
those proper to every imaginative child. Fairies
play a large role in her fancies, and so does the
sandman. There are kings, and princesses, and
golden wings, and there are reminiscences of
story-books, and hints of pictures that have pleased
her.

...The little girl is quite
untroubled by any questions of technique.

... Did she quite grasp its meaning
herself? We may doubt it. In this poem, the
subconscious is very much on the job.

... If a child can write
such a poem at eight years old, what does it mean?
That depends, I think, on how long the instructors
of youth can be persuaded to keep "hands off."
A period of imitation is, I fear, inevitable, but if
consciousness is not induced by direct criticism, if
instruction in the art of writing is abjured, the
imitative period will probably be got through
without undue loss. I think there is too much
native sense of beauty and proportion here to be
entirely killed even by the drying and freezing
process which goes by the name of education."

It seems the writer had a premonition that childhood may have been the prime time of Hilda's output. I'd rather like to think that she did continue to write or speak poetry, but maybe, self- consciously, chose not to share them.

The World Turns Softly...

... by Hilda Conkling

The world turns softly
not to spill its lakes and rivers.
The water is held in its arms
and the sky is held in the water.
What is water,
that pours silver,
and can hold the sky?

And here is my interpretation of her words;

This is 10"x12" canvas painted using the same technique as 'waterfall', decorated with silver foil & the title lettering written with a folded ruling pen.

At the time, I didn't know who wrote this- it was just jotted down on one of many bits of paper stuffed in one of many notebooks! Can you believe Hilda was only 5 or 6 years old when she came out with these words? Apparently her mother used to write them down for her. Amazing words, amazing child. You can read more of here poetry here;

Also while searching for the author of the quote, I came across someone else asking the same question; Kate Knapp is an artist & author, her illustrations & childrens stories look delightful... her website twigseeds is well worth a look.

Welsh Witch...

...is a special lady & friend of mine who has started her own blog...
Please visit Welsh Witch's Witterings & offer support.

Her wit & humour will not disappoint I promise you. Welsh Witch is lovely, creative, caring & inspiring and has a wicked sense of humour. Having just undergone the latest of numerous hip operations, she could do with some cheering up! (My rainbow concertina card was for her).

There's a wolf outside...

...at least that is the impression our cocker spaniel 'Ted' is giving. The poor lad is lusting after a flirty young border collie in season! They are both confined to quarters, and are communicating by howls & whines from a distance. Ted has been "ow-ooooo"ing for the last 3 days... I explained to him very calmly(?!) at 3am the other night that if he doesn't shut up he will lose his tackle but it hasn't made a difference....

On the plus side, I have been awake to see the moon in all her glory at silly o'clock times for the past three nights. Perfect for setting intentions by the full-moon- yes, i got dressed & went out. I sat by a solitary oak tree & just breathed in the night & bathed in moon light, even ted sat quietly by my side.
This photo proves he can sit & meditate too (anyone who knows him will find this hard to believe)

Must admit i was surprised too.... i'd been aware of him sniffing around in the trees, then all went quiet- i was sat on a stone, so he did too & just waited til i was ready to go!

Wishcasting Wednesday....

.... even tho it is thursday! Over at Jamie's blog the idea is that you make a wish & everyone supports & adds energy to your wish with their comments. What a great idea!

My wish is for my dad... it would have been mum's birthday today (she died 4 years ago gone monday) & my wish is for him to find peace within himself. The wish was meant to be "what would you change?" Though i don't think it is right for me to ask for him to change in any way he doesn't want, that is the thing that came to my mind when i thought about it... so I'm simply wishing my dad some peace in his heart.

A Reiki Journal

I attuned a young girl to Reiki I last year, so instead of printed notes I decided to make her a journal... well, actually i stole it from Sue (creative spirit).... well, not stole exactly, we'd had a working play day & I helped make a stack of journals with her. Mmm, she reminded me we have a batch to do soon for more orders!


Anyway, I wrote the notes inside with coloured pencils.... most of it is just handwriting but I used skeleton letters with a technique called pressure & release ( thats what gives the light & dark within the letters) for the titles & contrast....

I left plenty of blank pages for her to make her own notes & observations....

She is a special young lady whose gifts will surely blossom as time goes by. It was one of those ideas which started off as something simple, but grew as I wrote & thought of extra things to include... I think there were about 30 or 40 pages in the end!

Sitting under an Alder Tree

Sitting against an alder tree, I leaned back to connect with it. We were beside a stream, and I let the sounds of the water & bird song, the movement of the leaves, wash all over me as I shut my eyes. I had been musing about the ‘truth’ of our existence, who had gone before us etc but was no longer thinking of this as I drifted….

I felt an immediate sense of ‘oldness’… ancient peace & calm…. And the words history & mystery ran through my mind. These are the words that gradually formed as I sat there….

Take the history, thread through the mystery, blend it into now,
Find the answers to what the future holds in the days of old,
Those ancient times, coded into rhymes, will lead you forward to
A blend of history and mystery, encoded into now.
From those days of old, our truth unfolds, let us show you how,
To blend history with mystery, into something new.
Oh a perfect peace that moves through all, spiralling in time,
Oh that history, with mystery, dancing in our rhyme.

Well, that gave me food for thought, but made sense too. All the answers are there within, and constantly evolving. No doubt it will turn up on a canvas or in a book sometime- its on the 'things to do' list!

Notice how the alder has male & female catkins on the same tree? They are present right through the winter, tightly closed & brown, they gradually open & these long male ones start to green-up around Imbolc (feb 2nd).

Waterfall... the process

Thought I'd add a few words about how I approached this canvas. All I knew when I started was that it was to be a waterfall theme... at this point I hadn't thought about any particular words.

I began by using a roller & pale blue emulsion to cover the canvas, as I rolled I splashed a few darker blue bits in & kept rolling, varying the pressure, to create a subtle background texture. I let it dry before the next stage, but painted a few more backgrounds on various size canvasses while the paint was out!

The next bit is the fun bit (but also the point where it is very easy to get too carried away)- splashing the waterfall into place. I was trying to capture the place where the torrent of the waterfall hits the pool below- placing it to the left to allow for the lettering later. I think the phrases of 'river dancing' & 'veil of shimmering mist' were starting to form as i splashed colour on & i started to feel the idea of a hidden place behind the waterfall.

Some of the first layers of splashes were faintly rolled over with paler colour to add layers & depth (at least that was the excuse after i splashed a bit too enthusiastically!) Once dry i used a folded ruling pen to write the word 'waterfall' tumbling down the side- you can only just to say see it- & dropped some silver powder into the paint while it was wet. Again left to dry, stuck over the heater cos i was getting impatient to start- the first couple of phrases were in my mind, waiting to get out & onto canvas.

The first verse was easy, just made it up as i wrote.... it got harder as i went because as well as finding the words, they had to balance the overall layout.... a longer line here, shorter one there (but still keeping the right amount of syllables to keep the rhythm going). The trouble is, once written on the canvas I can't rub them out, I've got to make the next bit fit, then as i went down I had to round it off to suit the space that was left. It took a good few hours, much of spent sitting, staring, feeling the spirit of what was coming out. Anyone else would have written the poem first & known how much lettering was to fit in what space, lol. Managed it though, with just enough space for a final flourish of "where the river dances" done with a draughtsman's ruling pen, to anchor the whole piece.

There was certainly some divine intervention going on, some awen (inspiration) flowing to make it all work out. There was definitely an energy in the room....maybe it was those water-sprites?! All I needed was to add silver droplets down the right, to help make the lettering seem to be behind the waterfall & balance the layout. These were done by laying silver foil over raised glue from a glue-gun.... and there you have it!

Thankyou...

...to everyone who has looked & for the encouraging comments. I never thought for a minute that so many would look in just a few days, largely down to Sue at The Creative Spirit so thank you my friend for the support & the required boot up my bum to do this. I'm hooked!

Waterfall

Find that place where the river dances
behind that veil of shimmering mist
Explore a while and take your chances
with the water sprites that here exist

They'll show you a dream of forgotten places
visions in droplets, with light enhancing
a breadth of emotions as the water embraces
the whole of your soul, & your mind entrancing

Here is a place amongst the shadows dancing
to explore the myths in time enwrought
Quicksilver flashes in torrents cascading
forever remembered, captured in thought

Now you have parted the shimmering mist
and seen a glimpse of those answers
You can find the world where sprites exist
and be fresh and renewed where the river dances.

Rainbow Shower

While on the rainbow theme.... This is a visualisation which I originally developed for a child with a serious illness, but it is effective against negativity of any kind. It's the sort of thing you can use when other people are the source of negative feelings, to lighten up the atmosphere in a room, office, shopping centre etc.

 Visualise the pain (negativity, fragile emotions, heavy/tired energy, past hurts etc) swirling around like a muddy gooey mess.... see it all swirling, going round & round.... pretend you're stirring it up with a big stick like you're making a mud soup.

Keep it stirring til it goes totally black.... keep stirring, that pain/negativity is pitch black now, but you start to see streaks of red- lovely dark red- keep going & the red gets brighter & brighter til there's no black left. See the red being streaked with orange, swirl it round til all the red is gone & you've got a lovely bright orange.....

Keep on like this to yellow, to green, blue, indigo, violet- all the colours of the rainbow. All that mud has turned into rainbow soup! Now imagine your soup boiling over & all of those rainbow colours that you mixed in shower all over you (or over the room or whoever is nearby who might need a bit of a boost). If you want the rainbow drops can go out of the door & down the road, giving everybody a rainbow shower. Can you feel all those little rainbows running all over, all happy & smiley & full of energy?

Spend a bit of time just enjoying your rainbow shower, then gather up the droplets, see them running together & fusing into a huge stream of white light that pours all over you... and the room and everyone else- filling you up with lovely positive energy & leaving you feeling refreshed & renewed!

You can spend as long as you like on this, but also can be done quite quickly as a quick 'pick-me-up'

Walk On A Rainbow Trail

Walk on a rainbow trail, walk on a trail of song, and all around you will be beauty. 

There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail. (Navajo)

One of my favourite quotations that I wrote in a concertina book for a friend. She's been through the mill lately, but 'get well soon' just wouldn't have hit the spot! The lettering is in walnut ink, which gives the most amazing range of tones as you write- I love it. Rainbow coloured 'raindrops' were splattered in watercolour & the colours were echoed in the little crystal charm. The background paper is 'bagasse' & the yellow is lokta (both handmade papers from Khadi Papers), all finished off with a rainbow ribbon. 

I love the combination of earthy tones & rainbow brights- just my way of spreading a few rainbows around. Oh, and another quote;

The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears. (Minquass saying)

A Piece of Sunlight

Today I leaned against a tree

And a piece of sunshine jumped on me,

Not just any piece, a special piece

That landed on my skin.

It paused a while then skipped about,

And playful sunshine danced round me,

My feet were anchored to the ground

As warming sunlight played around.

I shut my eyes and laughed inside

And then that bit of sunlight said...

"Tig... Pass it on!"

So.... that's what I'm doing- passing on a bit of sunshine to brighten your day. If you are reading this you've just been "tigged" so pass it on!

Well, that will do for a first post.... after hours of thinking about what to write- something about me? something thoughtful or insightful? something deep and meaningful? A million ideas & I give you something that took moments, lol, there's plenty of time for the rest!